Editor-in-Chief’s Note: In May 2025, the Texas Water Research Network, led by the Environmental Science Institute at The University of Texas at Austin, held its 12th meeting. For the first time, presenters were invited to submit extended abstracts associated with their contributions to the Texas Water Journal. Seven extended abstracts were submitted and underwent a blind peer-review process before being included in this special issue.
Editor-in-Chief’s Note: In May 2025, the Texas Water Research Network, led by the Environmental Science Institute at The University of Texas at Austin, held its 12th meeting. For the first time, presenters were invited to submit extended abstracts associated with their contributions to the Texas Water Journal. Seven extended abstracts were submitted and underwent a blind peer-review process before being included in this special issue.
Editor-in-Chief’s Note: In May 2025, the Texas Water Research Network, led by the Environmental Science Institute at The University of Texas at Austin, held its 12th meeting. For the first time, presenters were invited to submit extended abstracts associated with their contributions to the Texas Water Journal. Seven extended abstracts were submitted and underwent a blind peer-review process before being included in this special issue.
Torpedograss (Panicum repens L.) is a highly invasive grass that is difficult to control in aquatic environments. Dredging was used to remove a torpedograss invasion above a run-of-river dam in a Central Texas spring run. Following dredging, the sediment was disturbed along a gradient from aquatic to upland habitats, and no vegetation was present. This study evaluated the success of replanting native aquatic, riparian, and terrestrial plants following the dredging of sediment accumulation to remove torpedograss above the run-of-the-river dam. Planting of native plants occurred in the disturbed areas on four occasions between September 2018 and November 2019. Planting of native graminoids resulted in the most successful establishment and increase of plant coverage at 5 years post-planting from the upland-mesic to the riparian zone. The aquatic habitat was dominated by the spontaneously occurring Chara spp. pre- and post-treatment. Planting of apical tips was not successful in the reestablishment of aquatic plants post-restoration. The upland to transitional zone was the most susceptible to spontaneous non-native plant invasions in this study, especially by yellow bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemum [L.] Keng). At 5 years post-planting, no torpedograss was observed within the restoration area, indicating that excavation of sediment removed the torpedograss rhizomes resprouting.
The National Science Foundation-funded Research Traineeship on Stakeholder-Guided Environmental Science (STAGES) at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi aims to improve interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborative science and communication through a combination of hands-on, experiential training and coursework for graduate students. A core feature of this program is the Headwaters to the Ocean (H2O) field trip, which immerses students in practical interdisciplinary research and data collection within the Nueces River watershed. The field trip spans the river from its headwaters near Uvalde, Texas, to Nueces Bay, with students studying various environmental indicators such as water chemistry, air pollution, hydrogeologic setting, and microplastics to assess the impacts of human activities. Through these experiences, STAGES seeks to build a common language among participants from diverse scientific backgrounds, ultimately fostering more effective research collaborations and preparing students for complex environmental science challenges. The STAGES program also offers recommendations for improving interdisciplinary teamwork, enhancing communication, and refining project planning, making it a model for training future scientists in integrated environmental science approaches.
Editor-in-Chief’s Note: In May 2025, the Texas Water Research Network, led by the Environmental Science Institute at The University of Texas at Austin, held its 12th meeting. For the first time, presenters were invited to submit extended abstracts associated with their contributions to the Texas Water Journal. Seven extended abstracts were submitted and underwent a blind peer-review process before being included in this special issue.
Editor-in-Chief’s Note: In May 2025, the Texas Water Research Network, led by the Environmental Science Institute at The University of Texas at Austin, held its 12th meeting. For the first time, presenters were invited to submit extended abstracts associated with their contributions to the Texas Water Journal. Seven extended abstracts were submitted and underwent a blind peer-review process before being included in this special issue.
Editor-in-Chief’s Note: In May 2025, the Texas Water Research Network, led by the Environmental Science Institute at The University of Texas at Austin, held its 12th meeting. For the first time, presenters were invited to submit extended abstracts associated with their contributions to the Texas Water Journal. Seven extended abstracts were submitted and underwent a blind peer-review process before being included in this special issue.
Editor-in-Chief’s Note: In May 2025, the Texas Water Research Network, led by the Environmental Science Institute at The University of Texas at Austin, held its 12th meeting. For the first time, presenters were invited to submit extended abstracts associated with their contributions to the Texas Water Journal. Seven extended abstracts were submitted and underwent a blind peer-review process before being included in this special issue.
As water scarcity intensifies in Texas, the legal status of "produced water"—a byproduct of oil and gas extraction—has gained increasing attention and significance. A recent decision of the Texas Supreme Court, Cactus Water Services LLC v. COG Operating LLC, addressed a novel and consequential property rights question: Who owns the produced water extracted alongside hydrocarbons? This article analyzes the Court’s decision, which held that oil and gas lessees own produced water absent express lease language to the contrary. The ruling relies upon traditional assumptions about produced water as waste, perhaps in the face of the evolving value and treatability of produced water and Texas law regarding the ownership of groundwater. Through an examination of the majority and concurring opinion and their underlying bases, this article also explores the implications for drafting future oil, gas, and groundwater rights leases, and offering practical guidance on how parties can avoid unintended conveyances of produced water.
Editor-in-Chief ’s Note: September 1 of every odd-numbered year is the date when most new legislation from the most recent session of the Texas Legislature typically goes into effect. With this in mind, the Texas Water Journal invited seven organizations that work closely with the Texas Legislature to provide their take on the changes to Texas water policy and law that were made during the 2025 session. The opinions expressed in these summaries are the opinions of the individual organizations and not the opinions of the Texas Water Journal, the Texas Water Resources Institute, the Bureau of Economic Geology, or the Water and Environment Research Center.
Texas law recognizes there are environmental implications when drilling a well through freshwater aquifers, and legislation mandates various state agencies oversee wells based on the original reason the well was drilled. Wells drilled with the intent of discovering and extracting oil and gas are overseen by the Railroad Commission of Texas, while wells drilled for water supply are overseen by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Under current law, jurisdiction changes when a well that was originally developed for oil and gas purposes is converted to a water well. This is typically done by simply placing a plug at the base of usable water. Under these circumstances, jurisdiction over the well is transferred by the Railroad Commission of Texas to the Texas Water Development Board via Form P-13. Complications arise when well integrity fails—such as when the plug in a P-13 well fails—and poor-quality fluids from deeper formations flow into shallow freshwater reservoirs or even to the surface. Currently, both the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Texas Water Development Board disavow jurisdiction over these wells, meaning that Texas provides no regulatory oversight for failed P-13 wells. This paper reviews the current state of regulatory oversight of failed P-13 wells in Texas, with recommendations to clarify the regulatory dilemma.
The water sector has been experiencing an aging workforce where retirements are outpacing recruitment of new, job-readied workers. The resulting workforce shortage threatens the ability of the water industry to protect the nation’s public health and environment and the sustainability of critical water infrastructure investments. While working on the frontline of water and wastewater system operations traditionally required an education level equal to or less than a high school diploma, the increased complexity of our water system will entail increased levels of education and professional training. In the meantime, colleges must reinvent themselves quickly to accommodate the needs of the water industry and a new generation of students seeking different options to maximize their investments in education and professional development. We examined the water workforce landscape and the emerging challenges of working in water and wastewater utilities. We then outlined the role of higher education programs in developing a competent workforce ready to tackle these challenges, such as the treatment of emerging water contaminants and modernizing an aging system vulnerable to extreme weather and cyberattacks. While college degrees remain valuable for educational credentialing and career development, programs offered in colleges and universities must be made accessible to in-service professionals and curricula must reflect the challenges faced by workers in today’s water systems.
Along a segment of the Guadalupe River in Central Texas, multiple historic dams owned and operated by the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority have failed. These dams create small lakes along which a string of communities have deeply embedded their lives. In this paper, we present a case study investigating the failure of the Lake Dunlap Dam and the subsequent responses at the community, regulatory, and state levels. The results highlight the social challenges of managing dam infrastructure and how the Lake Dunlap community navigated emotions, regulatory restrictions, and financial reality to create a solution that other communities along the river adopted. This case study also revealed that multiple communities facing similar issues posed by aging dam infrastructure will need alternative, less costly solutions. Future studies ought to consider the feasibility of reconstruction for aging dams across the state as well as the potential for alternatives. The case of the Guadalupe Valley Lake region dam failures and aftermath can inform policy and management regarding Texas’s vast and aging dam infrastructure.
This paper presents a method for projecting future reservoir elevation-area-capacity rating curves by calculating the distribution of sediment volume by lake elevation in reservoirs in Texas. We develop reservoir rating curves for the next 50 years, assuming a constant sedimentation volumetric rate as calculated at each elevational gradient for the predicting period. Projected rating curves can be used to simulate the impact of sedimentation on future reservoir firm yield and inform estimates of future available surface water for water planning purposes in Texas.
Microplastics in the Earth system are now widely documented and assessed. As plastic production continues and recycling capabilities lag, however, continued monitoring of their accumulation and transport within fluvial systems is necessary for managing the ecological and geomorphic effects of their presence. In addition to plastic pellets, particles, and beads, synthetic fibers and fibers coated with synthetic dye are increasingly causing concern due to their sheer numbers in the natural environment. This study presents a comprehensive review of the current literature regarding microplastics and microfibers in the environment and their potential impact on fluvial systems. In addition, data are presented that demonstrate the presence and prevalence of microfibers in select Texas rivers. Bed sediment from the Brazos, Colorado, and Trinity Rivers was sampled and assessed during the years 2020–2021. Fibers were present in nearly all samples, most abundantly immediately downstream of urban centers. Such sampling efforts should be taken regularly in ecological and geomorphic systems to monitor the temporal accumulation of plastic particles and fibers. These may have direct or cascading effects on ecological and human health. Increasing synthetic sediment may also influence the geomorphic adjustment of river channels by alterations to biogeomorphology and hydraulic processes.
In August 2024, the Texas Water Development Board adopted the 2024 State Flood Plan, providing the first-ever comprehensive statewide assessment of flood risk and solutions to reduce the risk and impact to life and property due to flooding. The plan incorporates the findings of 15 watershed-based regional flood plans and includes legislative and floodplain management recommendations to guide state, regional, and local flood control policy to reduce the risk and impact of flooding. Senate Bill 8, 86th Texas Legislature (2019), created the regional and state flood planning process modeled after the bottom-up regional and state water planning process. The Texas Water Development Board will produce a new state flood plan every 5 years based on the flood planning groups’ regional plans. This article provides a summary of the 2024 State Flood Plan, and the content is heavily sourced from the published plan.
Editor-in-Chief's Note: In every odd-numbered year, the Texas Legislature convenes in regular session for 140 days. With this in mind, the Texas Water Journal invited Senator Charles Perry, Chairman of the Senate Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee to discuss his priorities and visions for Texas water and the regular session of the 89th Texas Legislature. The opinion expressed in this commentary is the opinion of the individual author and not the opinion of the Texas Water Journal or the Texas Water Resources Institute, or the Bureau of Economic Geology.
We propose best management practices to increase karstic aquifer drinking water supplies’ resilience to potential hazardous material impacts where first responders and public safety officials suspect emergency firefighting runoff has entered the subsurface in the aquifer recharge zone. Karstic aquifers are unique because of their direct openings to the land’s surface, which allows contaminants in runoff or other surface waters to rapidly enter the subsurface and impact aquifer water quality. In the United States, 20% of the land surface is karst, and about a third of the groundwater used for drinking comes from karstic aquifers. Proposed best management practices emphasize on-site, real-time evaluation of the transport and fate of HAZMAT that may enter the subsurface and focus on water quality sampling, runoff and groundwater flow modeling, nontoxic dye tracing, and related studies for use in planning before and during an event and after emergency response has ended. We recommend best management practices for evidence-based screening of high-risk sites to facilitate placement of hazardous material sampling devices and emergency responder deployment. The best management practices, tools, curricula, and training described combine with earlier work by the authors to provide a comprehensive menu of actions to (1) help first responders prevent or limit flushing of hazardous material into a karstic aquifer; (2) help emergency management officials understand the consequences of contamination and issue data-driven geographically focused health and safety risk communications; and (3) help provide health and safety officials with relevant science- and data-based information that can help mitigate human and environmental health risks.
Environmental justice and sustainability have both become major concerns for water resource management, particularly with recent federal emphasis on environmental justice under the Biden administration in the United States. Texas, like many U.S. states, lags behind the federal government in this emphasis. While many localities have made progress in some respects—for example, some major Texas municipalities have included equity and sustainability metrics in their recent climate action plans—others have not. This has left a patchwork of persistent water management and availability issues that are exacerbated by extreme weather and worsening impacts of climate change. We provide a review of many of Texas’s water equity and sustainability challenges, both now and in a more extreme climate future. These include water access, affordability, contamination, flooding, drought, and aging infrastructure. For example, many Texas counties rank highest in the nation for flood risk, including coastal counties with high populations of disadvantaged communities and counties containing populations that live in persistent poverty in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Additionally, approximately 44,000 Texans, or about 0.4% of the state population, lack access to complete plumbing facilities in their homes. The costs of water infrastructure leaks (estimated at about 51 gallons of water per day statewide) are shared across customers of all income levels, though they place a disproportionate burden on low-income customers. We then assess existing statewide and local policy and planning efforts and gaps in addressing these concerns in Texas. We focus particularly on the role of efforts to incorporate community voice—the ideas, concerns, needs, and expertise of impacted community members, dismantle causes of injustice, and improve equity in spending. If communities are not intentional with future development, new water infrastructure could continue to perpetuate existing harms. Thus, we provide a research agenda and recommendations for addressing some of the policy and planning gaps and persistent environmental justice issues. We aim to help water managers and policy makers identify and dismantle sources of inequity, particularly through including community voice.
